Is that that famous singer singing background?

Cafe Society
81

This is getting off the topic a bit, but if you want to debate it, we can take it to its own thread. There are some (sort of) folksongs of the mid-1960s that are amazingly cynical. We think of the time as being the height of hippie happiness, but there were some songs of the time that seemed to say, “We might just as well give up because life never gets better”. Mary Hopkin’s most famous song, “Those Were the Days” from 1968, is about how we’re all going to grow old and at the end look back and think, “Why did we think those days would last forever?” The Mamas and the Papa’s most famous song, "California Dreamin’ " from 1965, is about how the singer wants to go far away but, alas, never will. And the most cynical is Gale Garnett’s most famous song, “We’ll Sing in the Sunlight” from 1966, which is about how no possible love could ever last more than a year so you’d better enjoy it while you can because soon it will be over. As pretty and cutesy as these songs are, they’re cynical as all get out, not fluffy and sugary.

82

Interesting thesis. I’m not sure you’ll be able to work up a genre - off the top of my head. all I can think of is Where Do You Go To My Lovely by Peter Sarstedt, and I’m not sure that really counts. If you start a thread I’ll track it, but like I said, I don’t think I have much to contribute. (But maybe the tread would jog my memory - who knows?)

Back to this thread: one of the fun aspects of it is the backup singer you just don’t expect - and however you care to measure up Mary Hopkin, I certainly wasn’t expecting to hear her on Low. Hence my highlighting of it.

j

83

UK-centric instances here.
Elvis Costello was producing Squeeze’s East Side Story sessions and so naturally ended up singing backing on Tempted. It is he who sings the bass and falsetto lines ‘The people keep on crowding - I’m wishing I was well’
Costello and Paul Young sing backing on Squeeze’s Black Coffee In Bed.
Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford of Squeeze sing an a number of Aimee Mann songs most notably backing on ‘That’s Just What You Are’.
While it doesn’t fit the OP, I think th fact that the great Clarke Peters (Lestetr Freamon in The Wire etc) sings backing vocals on Joan Armatrading’s wonderful ‘Love And Affection’ - he starts at 1.42

MiM